


Dress Code: Smile

by TheSketcherLass



Series: SAVE, too, is an acronym [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Pacifist Route, References to No Mercy Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-24 08:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6148155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSketcherLass/pseuds/TheSketcherLass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asriel and Chara have been brought back to something resembling life, preventing either of them from resetting for the time being. But there is a world waiting for them outside of the lab, and a kingdom waiting for the return of its hopes and dreams.</p><p>They can't hide away forever. Much as Chara would very, very much like to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Metta-morphosis Mandatory

**Author's Note:**

> I know I promised oneshots and not like, extra arcs, but this one is important! And fun. Primarily, it is fun. Some fluff. And angst. You know the drill.
> 
> While this chapter is pretty light aside from some really mild body horror/references to body horror, the three-parter as a whole is going to deal primarily with themes surrounding emotional manipulation/abuse, as well as anxiety and self-image issues. Just so you know what you're getting yoselves into.
> 
> This time around, my lovely betas have been ShtiyaJust4You and Marvelous_Jester! Thank you so much for the help, guys! <3

"Ouch."

"I'm sorry!" Alphys fumbles with the empty test tube she's holding, quickly setting it down on the desk Asriel is sitting on and grabbing a different one filled with green liquid instead. She quickly pours the antidote onto the child's melting paw. She swears she can feel two searing holes on the back of her neck where the little demon is glaring daggers into her skin from across the room, watching her every move with unblinking eyes.

Asriel bites down on his lip as the fur drooping off the back of his hand crawls back up into his skin. It hurts. But he doesn't cry. Big kids don't cry.

In the corner of the lab, Chara presses air out through their teeth, the noise so low only Frisk, who's sitting next to them, is able to hear it. "I swear, if she hurts him ..."

"She's trying to help," Frisk whispers, awkwardly patting the other's tense shoulder.

"Yeah," Chara sneers, red stare still nailed to the scientist. "That's what I'm worried about."

Nine days ago, Chara was brought back to life. Eight days ago, Asriel was too. Four days ago, Asgore was forced to return to Newer Home and three days ago, Toriel was forced to return to school. Two days ago, the tests began, and since then they've gone on and on and on.

No, that's not true. There's a pause in the afternoon when Toriel comes home. There are breaks for lunch and walks around the neighborhood and crossword puzzles and junior jumbles, and for Papyrus trying to cheer the kids up with afternoon spaghetti and for curious neighbors knocking on their door asking about the new kids on the block and receiving no clear answer. There are breaks for Asriel and Chara to fight over whose turn it is to talk to their dad on the phone, there are breaks for Frisk to try to get Chara to stop being angry afterwards and for the both of them to console Asriel.

But it _feels_ like the tests have gone on forever. Mostly because they're getting nowhere.

Hearing Chara's words despite her best efforts not to, Alphys pauses in the middle of gathering up another row of colorful test tubes and closes her eyes with a pained expression. Her brows nearly meet over the bridge of her glasses. Maybe she has heard this just one too many times. Just one too many snide remarks. One too many 'she'll mess this up's. For once, she wants to defend herself.

Before she can say anything she'll regret, she feels a warm paw against the scales on her cheek. Gently, Asriel tilts her head up, forcing her to look at him.

He's okay now. She did it. She saved him. He's right here.

Alphys manages to put on a smile for the little one, even if it's a bit strained. He does the same for her. At the other side of the room, Chara crosses their arms and slumps in their chair, finally moving their narrowed gaze to the floor instead.

Something comes thundering down the steps outside the lab.

" _Hey, Alphys!_ " The door handle clicks and Undyne skids into the room, having entered with just a little too much momentum. "Babe, there's something gross on our couch and I'm gonna need your help removing it."

Alphys turns to face her with a puzzled look. "W-what? I thought his tour would last another month, at least!"

Frisk and Chara both sit up with exactly the same wide-eyed expression. "Tour?" they say in perfect unison. Then they look at each other. Chara cracks a cheeky smirk. Frisk holds a hand to their heart in shock, as if they've just betrayed the founding ideals of their motherland. It is _weird_ not sharing the same body anymore. It makes their weird oddly-in-tune moments so much creepier. Yikes.

"O-oh uhm, yes, well," Alphys stammers, looking more than a bit embarrassed about instantly knowing what - or rather _who_ \- Undyne was talking about. "We've uh- maybe kind of been keeping track of Mettaton's exact? Location? For a while? Just in case?" She cringes preemptively.

"And now his 'exact location' is our living room," Undyne grumbles, putting her ring and middle fingers in the pockets of her jeans, face pulled into a disdainful grimace that shows off her crooked fangs.

Both of the human kids instantly bolt over to Undyne.

"Can we come visit?" Frisk asks, pulling on her arm. "Please?"

Undyne gives a little hesitant snort at her friend's enthusiasm. "Why? It's just Mettaton!" She lifts her arm with Frisk still hanging on to it. They laugh as the ground disappears under their feet.

"He's cool," Chara says, and clasps their hands behind their back, as if they're debating a very serious business proposal. "We need to spend time with him so that we, too, may become cool."

"Whaddaya need him for, when you got me!?" Undyne retorts, flashing a menacing grin at the little human as she flexes the muscles under Frisk's hand, the mass of it lifting them another inch up off the ground. Frisk squeals and kicks their legs at the empty air. "See? You think that glorified microwave can do THAT? Guy doesn't even have muscles! Or elbows!"

Chara purses their lips, considering her words for a moment. "That _is_ true," they say. "Buuut ... _you_ probably wouldn't be able to carry both of us all the way upstairs. I bet _he_ could."

Undyne looks over at Alphys and Asriel, who're watching with increasing worry.

"They're joking, right?" she asks, cocking a haughty brow. "That's gotta be a joke."

The others shrug, less than keen on getting involved.

"Listen up, punk," she growls and crouches down to Chara's level. Frisk still clings to her arm, ready for next lift-off. "You see this?" She flexes her other arm, her left arm, so hard her scales stand on end. "This knocked your dad on his butt before I could legally drink. Fun fact: I ain't left-handed."

"Welllllll ..." Chara cocks their head to the side. "Bet you can't lift us all the way across the street, then."

"Oh, it is _on!_ "

Undyne reaches her arm out to Chara, who clamps onto it like a bear trap. When she stands up, she's got a kid hanging off her on both sides.

"COME ON, ALPHYS, I NEED TO TEACH THIS BRAT A LESSON!!" Undyne roars over her shoulder, as she leaves the lab and heads for the stairs.

Alphys' gaze flicks between the door and Asriel. "W-we should probably-"

"We probably should."

By the time her and Asriel make their way to the ground floor, Undyne is already out the door and Sans is watching from the couch with a grin that should be framed and hung on a wall with the words 'example of internal screaming' engraved on a little metal label underneath.

"whaaat the hell," he says in a much-too-light, sing-song-y voice.

"I-I-I'll g-go with them, d-don't worry!" Alphys says as she grabs her coat and hurries out the door, Asriel right behind her.

Undyne, Frisk and Chara wait for them by the front door across the street. The humans are looking at her expectantly. She hesitates. Then she looks up at Undyne. They might as well. What harm could there be in it?

Alphys leads the way inside.

 "M-Mettaton?"

She's greeted by a loud, drawn-out groan from the couch facing toward the tv at the far wall. "ALPHYS? IS THAT YOU ..?" A trembling gloved hand slowly rises from behind the couch's backrest. "IT'S SO GOOD TO HEAR YOUR VOICE ..."

"Mettaton, what- what happened to you?!" she stammers, running over to check on her old friend.

On the pillows, planted flat on his square face, lies the one-wheeled robot, black oil oozing into the couch from some indeterminable area at the top of his front side. "IT'S ALL GOING DARK ... I THINK ..." He sobs. "I THINK THIS IS THE END FOR ME ..."

Napstablook fades into existence in the beanbag chair next to the tv. "... he caught a virus from some bad downtown equipment ................." they whisper. "he says he can see anime cat faces and kanji on the inside of his screen ..................................................."

Shyren peeks out from behind the beanbag. "I don't think he's really dying," she adds.

"ALPHYS, THIS IS HUMILIATING," Mettaton whines and flops his arm around blindly until he finds Alphys' hand, smacking her in the face a few times in the process. "I DON'T WANT TO BE A WEEB LIKE YOU."

All sympathy immediately drains out of Alphys' expression. She slowly turns to look at the kids as if to say 'are you sure this is who you wanna be when you grow up?' Then she turns back to Mettaton and pats his hand with just a bit too much force. "Yeah, gee, what a tragic fate."

"CAN YOU FIX IT?"

"Do I have a choice," she mumbles, before letting go of him and leaving the room to find her laptop.

Mettaton rocks a bit from side to side, trying to get comfortable. Not an easy task when all your sides are perfectly flat. "UGH, WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS-" He groans, then gives up, opens a panel near the switch on his back and pulls out the cord hidden behind it. "SHYREN, DARLING, WOULD YOU MIND FINDING ME AN OUTLET? THIS FORM MAY APPEAR TO BE FLAWLESS, BUT I CAN INFORM YOU THAT I'M QUITE LITERALLY DROWNING IN MY OWN SNOT."

"Oh no, you don't!" Undyne says, hopping onto the back of the couch like an angry house cat. "How much cash do you think we have!? It's hard enough scraping stupid human money together without you stealing our electricity!"

"UNDYNE, DARLING, I'M RICH, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT. PLUG ME IN AND I'LL PAY YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL FOR A YEAR. HECK, I'LL THROW IN YOUR RENT, TOO."

Undyne taps her nails against the top of his metal hide in a sharp rhythm. "We normal people don't pay rent, remember? We bought these houses in exchange for magic."

"WHO CARES, JUST PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY, _PLEASE._ AND- NO, NOT WITH A SPEAR, I CAN HEAR YOU SUMMONING THAT THING, YOU BARBARIAN!"

In the meantime, Shyren hovers over and takes the cord from him. She looks up at Undyne with big, dark pleading eyes. The warrior's sour demeanor immediately softens, and she flashes a bright smile at the smaller fish and nods. As long as Mettaton pays, she's not _actually_ bothered by it. She just enjoys seeing him suffer. Who doesn't? Shyren hops off to the nearest electricity outlet.

By the door, all three kids stretch to look over the back of the couch, as the robot turns himself inside out. The lava lamp on the shelf over the tv flickers. Mettaton moans in relief as his humanoid body shapes itself around the pillows instead of the other way around, and cracks his back before rolling onto his side, hugging the oil-spotted pillow to his face. Then he jerks back, cringing at the feeling of the soggy fabric on his artificial nerve endings. He pushes the pillow to the floor in disgust and wipes his face with his wrist, then holds his hand to his nose to stop the running liquid. "GOD, THIS IS _DISGUSTING_. TRULY A REALISTIC IMITATION OF HUMAN ANATOMY."

Finally, Frisk is unable to contain themself. A little muffled giggle worms its way out of their mouth, betraying their presence.

Mettaton freezes, then tips his head in the direction of the sound. A slow smile makes its way across his platinum face. "OH MY. PERHAPS DOCTOR ALPHYS MAY STILL HAVE OVERLOOKED A FEW OF THOSE KILLER ROBOT FEATURES. I DO BELIEVE I SENSE A HUMAN NEARBY."

Undyne can't help but smile too, as Frisk runs across the room and appears at Mettaton's side, jumping up to sit next to him on the couch and give him a hug. He laughs and gives them a one-armed hug, leaning his forehead against the kid's in greeting, while still holding his free hand over the bottom of his face to keep the oil inside.

"HELLO, SWEETHEART," he says, a warmth in his voice that other people rarely get to hear. "IT'S BEEN A WHILE. SORRY I'M ... DISGUSTING." He laughs again before briefly looking at his soiled glove. The sight makes him tear up a little. "OHH, THIS WAS MY BEST PAIR ..."

Frisk buries into their jeans' pockets and finds a small, extremely compact ball of kleenex. They find the original wrapping inconvenient, you can transport so many more if you just roll 'em together a bit. They offer the emergency kleenex to their suffering friend.

"OH GOODNESS. THANK YOU, DARLING." He accepts the generous gift and weakly tries to make his gross face a bit more presentable. "AT LEAST _SOMEONE'S_ TENDING TO THEIR SUFFERING FRIEND!" He raises his voice, glaring at the door Alphys disappeared through. Frisk gives him a gentle slap on the forehead. He gives them his most innocent look, though that doesn't say much coming from him. "WHAT? FRISK, HONEY, I'M LAWFUL EVIL, I CAN'T TREAT EVERYONE LIKE THEY'RE TINY ROYALTY, THAT WOULD SULLY MY REPUTATION." He tucks a few stray locks of hair behind Frisk's ear. They give him a cross look. But it's so very difficult to stay mad. They've missed him.

By the door, Chara and Asriel exchange a knowing look. Frisk tries way too hard to make their less-moral friends behave. It's like they're the one raising their whole little extended family and not the other way around. Chara thinks it's adorable. Asriel is just a tad worried that Frisk is fighting for a lost cause with Mettaton.

Napstablook sees the kids by the door and though the ghost is very much curious, they decide not to speak up about it. Not right now. What if the kids don't want to be noticed?

Undyne pokes Mettaton again. "Patience, tin can. I've got a spear with your name on it."

Finally, Alphys returns, still clicking away on the keyboard of the laptop balanced against her chest. "I'm here, I'm here." She clicks a claw against his knee. "Scoot." Mettaton draws his legs up to make room for her and she sits down, adjusting her glasses as she finalizes whatever she's doing on the screen. "USB." She reaches out a hand without looking at him. He opens a panel on his chest and hands her the cord. She plugs it into her computer and presses enter. "And there you go."

Mettaton's eyes flash an alarming bright pink for a second and he blinks a few times. "OH THANK GOD." He looks around at the living room, eyes rolling in his metal cranium. "THE CATS ARE GONE. THANK YOU, ALPHYS."

Alphys sets the laptop on the table next to the couch. "Don't mention it," she says dryly. "This might take a while to finish. And don't think I'm not holding you to that promise." She looks over at Undyne and continues, still completely deadpan: "We're going to marathon the entirety of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie every day for the next year on every single screen in the house."

Undyne covers her mouth in awe. "You're a genius," she whispers. Then she grins down at Mettaton. "See? You _can_ be useful when you really try! Good on you, bolt brain!"

Mettaton sniffles and daps his nose with the kleenex ball Frisk gave him. Finally, the oil flow seems to dry up. Frisk watches, a bit envious, as the ill robot appears to recover within seconds what a human being would need at least a few days to deal with. Couldn't Alphys make an anti-virus program for humans, too? She probably could.

"AH. MUCH BETTER." Mettaton sits up and stretches his jointless arms until each segment pops with a sharp _clack-clack-clack_ noise.

Napstablook gives him a tiny little smile. Shyren hops onto the beanbag chair next to the ghost and wiggles her fins happily.

Their lead singer stands up with all his usual flair and grace, and turns towards Alphys, apparently about to speak again - but then he notices something out of the corner of his eye. Alphys looks confused about his pausing for a second. Then she follows his gaze to the door.

She'd already forgotten the kids were there.

Slowly, Mettaton brushes his bangs away from the hidden side of his face and his eyes - both the magenta one and its black, glass-like, hollow twin - narrow to concentrated slits. "NO ..." he says lowly. "THAT CAN'T BE ..." The corners of his mouth lift, but calling the movement a 'smile' would probably be a bit of a stretch. Not taking his eyes off the kids, he moves around the couch in long, slow, deliberate strides.

Asriel moves to stand behind Chara. Chara adjusts their stance so they're standing squarely between their brother and the robot.

Finally, Mettaton tears his eyes from them and with a toss of his head, his bangs fall back in place over the exposed panels on the right side of his face. He glances back at Alphys. "IS IT REALLY THEM?"

"Wh-what d-do you mean?"

He looks at her for a moment, biting his lower lip at an angle, as if he's trying to keep himself from spilling a secret she's not in on. Then he looks back to the kids. After a moment of thought, he decides on a question: "DID ALPHYS DO THIS TO YOU?"

Asriel and Chara look to each other for answers, but neither of them know how he knows.

"Yes," Chara admits.

Finally, the smile brightens and grows warmer, realer, though he does his best to keep it from doing so. He lets out an amused breath and shakes his head. He approaches the two, folding his hands in front of himself as he crouches before them to get a closer look. "SHE TRULY IS A MIRACLE WORKER, ISN'T SHE?" His tone is dark with a sort of awestruck, fascinated-yet-disturbed wonder. He looks at Chara, then at Asriel. "OUR HOPES AND DREAMS ..."

Chara reaches back to hold onto Asriel's sleeve, making him stay behind them. "How do you know who we are?" they ask sharply.

"OH, I REMEMBER YOU," Mettaton says wistfully. "EVERYONE REMEMBERS YOU." He sighs. "I WAS JUST A LITTLE BABY GHOSTIE WHEN YOU PASSED AWAY. HOW WE GRIEVED FOR YOU. ALL OF US."

Frisk cautiously approaches the group by the door. "You were alive 100 years ago?"

"GHOSTS ARE IMMORTAL, DARLING," he replies, reaching out a hand to invite them closer. Frisk takes it without a moment's hesitation and lets him loop an arm around them as they lean against him. "OH, I CANNOT FATHOM WHAT THE OTHER MONSTERS ARE GOING TO THINK WHEN THEY SEE THEIR CROWN PRINCES AGAIN. THOSE OF US WHO WERE AROUND BACK THEN ... I DON'T THINK WE EVER QUITE MOVED ON. YOU WERE MISSED, LITTLE DARLINGS."

Shyren hovers around the couch and Napstablook phases through it, both of them curious about the little ones. Nervously, Chara's eyes flick between the robot, the fish, the ghost and the human cornering them against the door. Were they and Asriel really missed after all this time? The citizens of New Home remembered them and their story, but ...

Shyren hovers closer and bows her head to the kids. "Welcome home, your highnesses."

Chara's hand slips from Asriel's sleeve and they involuntarily flinch away from the little monster. "I ... I-"

Asriel steps forward in their stead and smiles warmly at Shyren. "Thank you," he says to her. When she hovers closer, he opens his arms and cradles her to his chest. He doesn't notice the way Chara's lips press together in frustration or the way they pointedly look away.

"NOW," Mettaton says, standing up and turning back to Alphys, Frisk still under his arm, leaned on his hip. "DO TELL. FOR WHAT GRAVE PURPOSE DID YOU BRING THESE LITTLE ONES BACK? YOU MUST HAVE HAD A GOOD REASON, AM I RIGHT? OF COURSE I AM." He smiles at Frisk and boops them on the nose. The little human squeaks and rubs their face.

"I-it's k-k-kind of a l-long story!" Alphys stammers, drops of sweat appearing on her forehead. They've been through this. She _knows_ what the official story is. But she hates lying. She stopped lying a long time ago.

"Oh, it's a long story alright," Chara mumbles with a snarl, fists clenched. They raise their cold gaze from the floor and back to Mettaton. "Our existences became useful again, that's what happened."

Frisk sends them a _look._ Chara ignores them.

Mettaton laughs, but there's a softness to it, a kind of gentle, overbearing sympathy. "I REALIZE, DARLING. NO ONE BRINGS BACK THE DEAD WITHOUT A PURPOSE. THAT'S ONE FINAL MYSTERY EVEN SCIENCE WOULD DO WELL TO LEAVE ALONE, IN MY PRIVATE OPINION."

Chara's pinprick pupils slide from Mettaton to Alphys and back again, malice sparking in their depths.

"Oh yeah?" Their chipper songbird-voice drops to a seething growl. "Far as I remember, that hasn't stopped anyone yet."

Alphys' attention immediately snaps to Chara, disbelief clear on her face. Undyne mirrors her expression. Sensing the others' anger, Napstablook turns transparent and then disappears completely.

Shyren tenses up in Asriel's arms and he holds her away from his sibling, shielding her with his body. "Cha- _ra_ ..." he hisses through gritted teeth.

Frisk looks like they're about to speak up when Mettaton breaks the silence with a nearly breathless laugh, startling them.

"MY GOODNESS, AREN'T YOU JUST THE MOST _PRECIOUS_ LITTLE CREATURE?" he coos, shoulders lifted like he can barely stand to witness the angry little human's existence. He adjusts Frisk's position on his hip, wrapping both arms around them. "AND SUCH A FLAIR FOR DRAMA! WOULDN'T YOU SAY SO, FRISK?"

Frisk shakes their head, bewildered. What is he _doing?_ Before they know it, the ground is coming closer again as Mettaton crouches in order to be level with Chara.

"YOU TRULY ARE SOMETHING ELSE, LOVE."

Chara squirms under his unreadable gaze.

"PERSONALLY, HOWEVER, I'D ADVISE YOU TO MAYYYBE TONE IT DOWN A BIT IN PRIVATE, IF YOU CAN." His smile stretches into a brilliant grin. "I HEAR ONE MORE BAD THING ABOUT DOCTOR ALPHYS OUT OF YOU AND I'LL PUT YOU BACK IN THE GROUND MYSELF. CAPICHE?"

That makes the kid stop squirming. Their eyes widen and they look up at Frisk as if asking them to _do_ something, the killer robot is _their_ friend, reel him in!

"THAT'S A GOOD LITTLE WHATEVER-YOU-ARE." Before Frisk can do anything, he stands up again and in the same motion, he reaches out to ruffle Chara's hair. They barely manage to dodge out of the way. "I HOPE YOU'RE NOT PLANNING ON KEEPING THESE TWO TO YOURSELF FOREVER," he says to Alphys, not sparing Chara another glance. "I KNOW QUITE A LOT OF MONSTERS WHO WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO SEE THEM AGAIN."

"I-I'm not," Alphys replies, though her thoughts seem to be elsewhere. She wipes the sweat from her brow with the backs of her claws, wary gaze jumping back and forth between her friend and the kid by the door who's ever-so-slowly edging backwards until they're standing behind their brother. They're trying to make it look casual. And failing. Then Alphys tears her attention away from the human and back to the question Mettaton asked her. "K-keeping them forever, I mean. Toriel and A-Asgore know about them. And Sans. And Papyrus. And- and also? The, uh, neighbors have seen them, I guess? Once or twice? A-anyway, they've only been here for a few days, so. We're uh ... just kind of waiting for the right moment to introduce them to everyone else, I guess."

Mettaton gasps. He quickly places Frisk back on the ground and approaches Alphys. "OH, YOU SHOULD'VE JUST SAID SO, DARLING! AN EVENT OF THAT MAGNITUDE NEEDS A SPECIAL KIND OF PRESENTATION! WHY DON'T YOU LET MOI HANDLE ALL THAT STRESSFUL PEOPLE-PLEASING?"

"Oh no, you don't!!" Undyne cuts in, stepping in between Mettaton and Alphys. "You're not gonna turn this into another one of your weird tv shows! This is Asgore's kids we're talking about!"

"WHY, WHATEVER DO YOU MEAN, UNDYNE?"

While the adults argue about the ethics of turning long-dead children's rebirth into a tv special, Frisk edges closer to their siblings.

"You okay?" they ask Chara.

The other human just shrugs with one shoulder, watching Mettaton with a mix of nervousness and ... is it worry? They don't look angry, not even scared. Just a bit shaken up. And thoughtful.

"You shouldn't have said that thing about Alphys," Asriel says. He strokes a gentle paw over Shyren's back. The smaller monster snuggles into his sweater. "She's done so much to help us and you're just being mean to her."

"She keeps putting you through those stupid experiments," Chara mutters without really paying attention. Whatever they're seeing on the back of Mettaton's head, the others aren't following.

"'Cause she's trying to make sure I don't fall down again! You used to be really good at pretending to be nice, so maybe try to do that again before you make her really mad."

_That_ snaps Chara's attention back to their brother. "I can be nice ..!"

They look so sincere and so hurt that even Frisk wonders if they're joking or if they're really upset.

Asriel hugs Shyren close to his chest and finally spins around to look Chara in the eyes. "Then _act_ like it!"

Mettaton's voice cuts off whatever they were about to say in reply. If anything.

"FINE, FINE, I CAN TELL WHEN MY SERVICES AREN'T WANTED. BUT REALLY, ALPHYS, YOU SHOULDN'T BE KEEPING THEM LOCKED UP HERE IN THIS BORING OLD NEIGHBORHOOD. NOT WHEN THE WORLD IS FINALLY WIDE OPEN FOR THEM TO EXPLORE." He puts his hands on his hips, frowning at Alphys.

"I know," she sighs. "I g-guess w-we can't keep putting it off, right?" She looks up at Undyne, who's standing with her arms crossed, still looking at Mettaton somewhat skeptically.

"Hmm. Nah, I guess not." Undyne grinds her fangs together in thought. "Is it safe for Asriel to go all the way to the capital, though?"

Alphys isn't sure, she says. He hasn't had a single episode since that first night and it's been over a week since then. But the capital is far from his chamber if anything happens. Maybe she could build a portable version of the machine? One capable of stabilizing his magic levels without all the other features? She'll have to look into it. Mettaton is right. The kids can't stay here forever.

She tells Undyne and the kids that it'll probably be a while before she's done purging the viruses from Mettaton's system, and asks Undyne to walk Frisk, Asriel and Chara home. Shyren reluctantly removes herself from Asriel's embrace. Frisk waves their arms around until they find a cold patch of air and they put a little goodbye-kiss on the ghost's invisible cheek. A violet disembodied blush appears in front of their face, seemingly hovering in mid-air. Undyne leads the way outside, Asriel and Frisk right behind her, but before Chara can follow the others-

"YOU KNOW ..." Mettaton looks over his shoulder at the human. "I _WAS_ BEING SERIOUS. YOU USED TO BE A FANTASTIC ACTOR, CHARA. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT." It's not an order. There's an unspoken 'please' in there somewhere. "WE MISSED YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE."

Chara isn't sure they believe him. But for once, he looks completely serious. He remembers what they used to be like. He remembers how much hope they and Asriel brought to the Underground, how that hope was torn away in a single day.

Chara isn't sure they want to remember. They could never be themself with the monsters, no, that would have hurt them. Chara needed their people to trust them. Kindness, politeness, sweetness, those were easy enough to fake, god knows they had enough experience blending in and pretending to be a real child, a happy child. Do they even _want_ to be that person again? Just some doll in their new parents' cobbled-together play-pretend family?

"Chara, are you coming?" Frisk calls from outside.

"Y-yeah."

They don't have much choice, do they? They _owe_ them. If they want this, if they want to come back, if they want to be Toriel and Asgore's child, if they want to be Frisk and Asriel's sibling, they need to act like it. Even if the mere thought of it is enough to exhaust them.

With one last look at Mettaton and Alphys, they leave to join the group heading out. They suppose they can start counting the days until their big comeback.


	2. Bad Charama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here comes a headcanon fest! And a Chara fest. And a lil bit of angst. It's good for us, it's healthy

The moment Asgore hears that his children are ready to meet the rest of their kingdom again, he begins planning the big event. Only three days later, they're off.

Sometime during the last 100 years, the village next to Mt. Ebott expanded into a town, and sometime after that, the town's east end sprouted into a city. By contrast, the west end faded into flatland, smaller and smaller buildings leaking into the countryside, as though the locals were afraid to take space for themselves in the vast emptiness beyond the town. Like the void pushed back against the intruders.

It's a good thing, Asriel thinks, because the untouched fields look like big peaceful oceans in the washed-out morning light, and he always wanted to see a real ocean. He tries to get comfortable in his seat, adjusting the seatbelt digging into his collar bone. It's difficult with the metal thing stuck to his spine. He's pretty sure the nerve endings in his back are starting to wake up. It doesn't really hurt, but wow, having a metal backpack is _way_ less cool than it sounded in theory.

"You alright?" Chara asks, watching him with that cold indifference that tells him they're anything _but_ indifferent. Chara's a complicated person. Coldness means caring and kindness means _watch. Your. Back._

In hindsight, Asriel kind of wishes he'd known that a century ago. He pushes the thought away.

"'m fine," he says, trying to give his friend a reassuring smile. "It's just the machine, I don't think it's really made for car rides." He tries to reach the cable embedded in the skin between his shoulder blades. It's starting to itch.

Chara grabs his wrist and pulls his hand away from his back. "Don't do that," they mumble. "You're gonna mess it up."

Instead of letting go, they slide their hand over the back of his paw and lace their fingers through his, forcing him to sit still. Asriel jerks his head back in surprise, but when he looks away from their hands and back to Chara, they've already moved their attention back to the gray ocean-fields moving by outside the window. He turns to look at Frisk sitting on his other side. Their hands are clasped in front of their mouth, less-than-successfully trying to hide the big, giddy smile spreading on their face. Asriel points to his and Chara's clasped hands and mimes _'what does that mean?',_ but Frisk doesn't answer. They just link their arm with Asriel's, wiggling in their seat like a happy caterpillar.

Well. He supposes he's gonna be stuck like this for the rest of the trip.

Fortunately, Newer Home isn't that far away. Papyrus' red sports car climbs over a small hill interrupting the flatland. Beyond the hill, the terrain slopes down into a beach where soft waves lick against fine white sand. The road rises from the ground and extends into the ocean, supported by concrete pillars, and further out, the bridge extends right into the heart of a city seemingly resting on the ocean's surface.

Asriel gasps and stretches his neck in order to look through the car's front window. He doesn't know whether to look at the massive amounts of water or the apparently-floating city.

"FEAST YOUR EYES, CHILDREN," Papyrus calls from the driver's seat, "UPON THE GREATEST CAPITAL MONSTERKIND HAS EVER CONSTRUCTED!! I KNOW IT IS SO BECAUSE I HELPED BUILD IT!"

The city looks like a beacon in the ocean's gray and white tones, warm light leaking through the many rows of windows and enveloping the island in a mist of gold and yellow. The buildings are packed tightly together, just like they were back in New Home, fortress-like square buildings leaning on round cathedrals leaning on towers with ornate spires, all clustered around a large, familiar shape at the center of the island.

"The castle looks just like the one from back home!" Asriel says. He feels a pang of homesickness, the kind of homesickness you don't realize is there before you're about to go to the place you're missing, before you're about to meet everyone you've been without. It's strange, he knows this isn't really New Home, he knows most of the people he misses are long gone, but something about it is just so inherently monster-like. It makes him feel welcome.

"Your father is a sentimental man," Toriel replies. She turns in her seat next to Papyrus to look at the curious kids sitting in the back. "He insisted we keep the old traditions. I cannot say I mind. It is nice to be able to revisit something familiar without necessarily going back to that wretched mountain."

"Why's it in the ocean?" Chara asks. "All that wind's gonna wear down the walls."

Toriel sighs and looks back to the city coming closer, as the car rolls down the slope and onto the bridge.

"Truthfully," she says, "the humans were quite reluctant to let us have land of our own. They happily gave up their own homes in exchange for magic, artifacts, knowledge and anything else we had that they did not, but we are still new to this world. We live by their rules. Our capital was ... or _is_ to be our safe haven. Somewhere for our culture to thrive on its own terms. The humans did not like that."

Asriel shifts a bit. He can feel Chara's nails dig into his paw pads. He tries to ignore it, only holding onto them tighter, too. He knows what they're thinking. He doesn't want to pull away, he doesn't want them to feel alone. Even though it hurts.

"We were given an island and we were asked to limit the capital to the island's grounds," Toriel finishes, tone somber.

"BUT THEY NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT EXPANDING THE GROUNDS!" Papyrus supplies, much more cheerily. "SO WE'VE STARTED EXPANDING THE ISLAND OURSELVES! IT'S HARD WORK, BUT NOTHING WE CAN'T HANDLE!! THE VULKINS ARE VERY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT HELPING OUT."

He's right. As the car draws closer to the island, little Vulkins come into view, happily dancing around the rocky beach surrounding the city and pouring red-hot lava into the cold water. A few Madjicks are hovering around, supervising the smaller monsters' progress and casting ice spells on the lava that doesn't quite reach the ocean's surface. The Nice Cream guy pushes his cart down to the beach and rings a little bell. Both Vulkins and Madjicks leave their work to flock around the cart. It must be their lunch break. Brunch break. Late breakfast break? The king makes sure his hardworking subjects are always well-fed, even if the schedule is a little off sometimes.

Inside the city, the streets are bustling with countless different monsters, some of them familiar, some of them new, presumably ones who moved here from the deepest reaches of the caves under Mt. Ebott. Papyrus has to drive slowly through the crowded main road - cars never really were a monster-thing and though the streets are wide enough to accommodate big vehicles, none are in use and the roads are packed with monsters wandering about on foot. A few of them steal a look inside the car as it passes them and excitedly whisper to their friends, while others try to subtly trail the newcomers, forming a little parade behind the car.

Chara sinks deeper into their seat and they pull up the hood on their jacket, worrying their lower lip between their teeth. They're not ready for this. They're not ready to go back to this. It's been so long since they had to genuinely pretend to be anything remotely resembling a likable person, they can barely remember how anymore.

Which ... might be a good thing, but still. They don't want to disappoint the people who have tolerated their real personality for so long.

Asriel looks nervous too. Chara suddenly remembers that their hand is still clamped around his like a vice. Why didn't he say anything? They untangle their fingers from his and cross their arms over their chest, digging their fingertips into their upper arms until it hurts. Focus on that instead. Focus on this weird, fragile flesh suit they've oh-so-graciously been granted.

Why are they here, again?

The car takes a right turn at some point, and then a left, and before they know it, the little parade is separated from the car by big iron gates. Papyrus chose to avoid the castle wall's main entrance in order to throw off the monsters following them, and the car rolls down a side-road that's much smaller than the one weaving through the big flower gardens in front of the castle. He drives around the building and finds the open space behind the castle that doubles as a makeshift parking lot. He puts the engine to sleep and steps out, moving around the front end of the vehicle to hold the door open for Toriel.

Asriel stumbles out after Chara, the heavy backpack throwing him a little off-balance. He adjusts the straps on his shoulders. It looks like a normal backpack on the outside - Alphys camouflaged it, she said, just so people won't ask weird questions about his condition. It's much too heavy, though. He really hopes he won't have to wear it to school. How would he fit books in next to the machine anyway?

The castle's back door slams open, making Chara jump.

"CHARLENE, HONEY, DID I SAY _CERULEAN_ BANNERS? DID YOU HEAR ME SA- DO _NOT_ INTERRUPT ME, I _WILL_ BUY OUT YOUR ENTIRE BRANCH OF THE COMPANY AND _FIRE_ YOUR SALTY-" Mettaton stops abruptly when he sees Papyrus, Toriel, Frisk, Asriel and Chara lined up by the red sports car. A woman's voice sounds on the phone, calling his name.

_"Mettaton? You there?"_

"I'LL CALL YOU BACK."

" _We still on for coffee tomorrow?"_

 _"_ NATURALLY, SWEETIE. DO SAY 'HI' TO THE WIFE FROM ME. TA-TA." He snaps the flip phone shut with a flick of his wrist, before wheeling down the stairs with all the elegance of a vacuum cleaner, arms open in greeting to his friends. "OH GOODNESS, EVERYONE, I'D NO IDEA YOU WOULD BE HERE SO EARLY! YOU SIMPLY _MUST_ EXCUSE MY MANNERS, HAD I KNOWN YOU WERE HERE, I WOULD HAVE CLEARED THE ROAD FOR YOU!" He very-unsubtly leans his metal frame against Papyrus' side, sighing dramatically. "YOU MUST HAVE HAD THE HARDEST OF TIMES GETTING HERE ..!"

Papyrus immediately rights his shoulders and brushes imaginary dust from the chest piece of his battle body, flashing a confident grin at the robot. "NOT TO WORRY, METTATON!! THESE STREETS WERE BUILT BY YOURS TRULY! THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS THE CITY LIKE THE BACK OF HIS OWN DASHING, MASCULINE GLOVE! WE THREW OUR PURSUERS OFF WITHOUT A PROBLEM!!"

Mettaton gasps and holds a hand to the area where his chest probably would have been if he wasn't a perfectly square hunk of metal. "OHHH, _REALLY ..?"_

"Gentlemen, _please,_ " Toriel cuts in, giving the two of them a stern glare and nodding towards her kids. They're _right_ there.

Papyrus raises a brow, apparently not entirely sure what's bothering her, but Mettaton immediately jumps back, clapping his hands together.

"RIGHT, RIGHT!" he says, wheeling around the group like a sheepdog gathering up its herd, before stopping next to Frisk and throwing an arm around their shoulders. In his box form, he's barely a head taller than them. "I WAS ABOUT TO INVITE YOU ALL INSIDE, WASN'T I? SILLY ME. IT WILL BE ANOTHER HOUR AND A HALF BEFORE THE BIG EVENT, SO DO MAKE YOURSELVES COMFORTABLE."

Frisk squints at him a bit skeptically. "Didn't Undyne and Alphys tell you not to make a big deal out of this?"

"OH, BELIEVE ME, I WON'T," Mettaton huffs, picking Frisk up and putting them on top of his head. He waves for the others to follow him up the stairs and through the back door. "BUT _SOMEONE_ NEEDS TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN. I'M ONLY MAKING SURE THE KING'S ORDERS ARE CARRIED OUT CORRECTLY. THAT BIG OLD SOFTY WOULDN'T HAVE THE HEART TO CORRECT THOSE AMATEURS IN THE DECORATIONS DEPARTMENT. WE WOULDN'T WANT A DAY AS IMPORTANT AS THIS ONE TO BE SPOILED BY OFF COLOR CHOICES, NOW WOULD WE?"

Chara shrinks a bit and Asriel involuntarily clings to his mom's coat as the door slams behind them. Everyone, uh ... really likes talking up today like it's a big thing. They both kind of tune Mettaton out as he continues to ramble about today's program, instead focusing on the wide corridor they're moving through, the fancy carpets and the flowers on the windowsills. Chara realizes that they're a little thankful it isn't sunny out. The big windows lining one side of the corridor look awfully familiar. But in the dim light, it isn't too bad.

They slow their pace until they're walking side by side with Asriel.

"Tell mom to carry you if that thing gets too heavy," they say, voice low enough for only their brother to hear them.

Asriel adjusts the straps on his backpack, standing a little taller. "I-I will." He side-eyes Chara, but they're not even looking at him. He doesn't understand. They're acting so weird right now. "I'm ... not gonna fall down again, if that's what you're worried about. We tested this thing, remember?"

Finally, Chara looks at him, if only briefly. A little smirk tugs at the edges of their mouth. "You don't have to be dying to ask for help, you know."

Okay, now he's worried.

"If I asked for help, you'd tease me for whining too much!"

 "Sure," they laugh. "But I'd be kidding and you know that." They brush their shoulder against his. "I want you to be okay, Azzy."

Okay, they went straight from cold to kind, straight from 'they care about you' to 'something is _wrong'_ within less than half an hour. Something is up. Chara isn't nice. Ever. They're nice to people when they want something from them, Asriel remembers this perfectly well, they're nice to people when they're useful to them. He knows, because in their first life, Chara was only ever cruel to him, and that meant that they cared about him and trusted him. It meant that they were best friends. Chara trusted him to love them even after showing him their true colors. That's how they work.

He needs to warn Frisk. If Chara is up to something, they're the only one who can help him.

"What's the matter? You look ill."

"N-no, I'm okay," he lies.

"Did I say something wrong?"

He doesn't reply.

Mettaton gets another phone call. Apparently he has to leave again after all. Something about a massive octopus who really wants to come to the assembly, despite the fact that they can't fit through the city's canals. Frisk asks him if they can show Asriel and Chara around the castle, and he tells them to go ahead, as long as their mother or Papyrus are with them at all times - monsters do roam the place, and while they wouldn't dream of harming the kids, some of them _are_ space cadets who aren't entirely clear on how their own magic works and some of them _do_ attempt to hug people with their claws or teeth because they don't know any better. Frisk promises that they will stay with the adults.

Chara wants to see the dungeons under the castle, and Asriel jumps at the chance to ask Frisk if the two of them can go see the throne room. They- they can split up, right? Toriel can go with Chara and Papyrus can ... go with him and Frisk. To save time.

Frisk looks like they're not completely buying his explanation, but before they can say anything, Papyrus exclaims that it's a great idea and instructs the two of them to follow along. Chara takes Toriel's hand, and while the two of them head in the opposite direction, Asriel can hear their mom try to start a conversation with the strange little human. Their responses mostly consist of one syllable each.

Trailing behind Papyrus, who's in the middle of a monologue about the throne room (or maybe about his own much cooler room, Asriel isn't sure), Frisk maneuvers over to Asriel's side, sneaking a look over their shoulder at the other half of their group disappearing down a corridor branching off from the big one.

"What's up?" they whisper, voice low enough that Papyrus can't hear their exact words, so he can just assume they're marveling at his exciting throne-room-versus-his-own-room-tale.

"S-something's wrong with Chara," Asriel whispers back. "Something bad, I think. They're being really creepy, I don't like it."

Anyone else might have brushed it off. That anyone else would be someone who doesn't remember the other timelines. Someone who doesn't remember the warning signs. Cold hands brushing against petals with eerie, clumsy movements, a soft smile or smirk or something in between, gentle shushing, _don't cry, don't cry, it'll all be over soon-_

Frisk's voice distracts him before his shallow breathing gets the best of him.

"How? What are they doing?"

"W-well-" He takes a deep breath. Papyrus would probably notice if he started hyperventilating. Maybe now isn't really the time to think about those endings. "You know how they-" He swallows. "You know how they were always like- weirdly clingy and-" He shakes his head, searching for words that won't come. "Y'know, like, creepily _calm_ when they were about to do something bad? In- in _those_ timelines?"

Frisk's brows knit, their nose wrinkles a bit. "Mmmwell, Chara's like that a lot. I don't think that's a really a bad-timeline-thing."

"But they're being really weird and clingy and-" He glances up at Papyrus walking in front of them. He's still distracted. Good. Asriel lowers his voice a little and leans closer to Frisk. "They keep asking me if I'm okay and they keep telling me to look after myself, and they're being like, really obviously nice and caring and soft, and it's freaking me out! They only ever did that when they were about to kill me! It's like a weird false-sense-of-security thing. 's _creepy._ "

Frisk does not look happy at that. They look over their shoulder again, even though Chara and Toriel are long out of sight by now, and tentatively cross their arms over their chest like they're trying to shield their soul from Chara's. "They weren't like that before?"

"No. Are they like that with you?"

"Always. Unless they're in a bad mood. I guess that's why I decided to trust them in the first place. They were ... nice." The word sounds hollow in their mouth now. "I was in a really bad place and I- I just wanted someone to take care of me. Make me feel safe."

Of course. Of course Chara would be able to sense that. Mettaton was right - they're a fantastic actor. They knew exactly which role to play to get Frisk to cooperate. Asriel shudders at the thought. Frisk, all alone, taken in by this _thing_ that used to be his sibling, their new so-called 'friend' lying to their face until they couldn't tell right from wrong, or themself from their parasite.

"But then why are they still like that with you?" Asriel asks. He realizes the answer as soon as he's said the question out loud.

Oh.

Oh no.

"Frisk, you don't think ..?"

A little bit of life returns to Frisk's features when they realize what he's asking. To his surprise, their response is a soundless laugh.

"No, no, come on, even Chara can't lie for that long. Even if they were just pretending before, it's definitely real now. Definitely."

"Are you sure?"

There's a pause in Papyrus monologue and both kids go quiet when he stops in front of a pair of large double doors not unlike the castle's backdoor.

"... AND HERE, YOUR YOUNG MAJESTIES! BEHOLD!" He pushes the doors open and steps aside to bow deeply as they pass by. "A ROOM NEARLY AS EXTRAVAGANT AS THE VERY LAIR OF YOURS TRULY!!"

The room looks very much like Asgore's throne room in New Home, but it's larger, and the plants here are far more varied. Violets, lilies, golden flowers. Ferns and berry bushes line the walls. Roses climb them all the way to the ceiling. Beams of white light pour from a skylight high above their heads. There's a fountain by the wall on their left, water running into barred-off openings in the large, uneven stone bricks. In the middle of the garden sits Asgore's throne, facing the double doors at the other end of the room - and next to it, a littler one of the same kind.

For a brief, welcome moment, Asriel forgets all about his fears.

"Golly, Frisk, you have your own _throne?_ " He runs over to the smaller chair, skidding around it so he can look at it from the right angle. It looks just like Asgore's own, gold with a purple plush seat and the Delta Rune embroidered in the back rest. It's like the big throne had a baby!

"Dad _may_ not legally be my dad, buuut I'm still the ambassador. Ambassadors can have thrones, right?" Frisk says with a wink, prancing around the littler chair and throwing themself into the soft seat with all the self-satisfied laziness of a cartoon villain. They lean their elbow on the arm rest and their chin on their hand. "Humans need to know not to mess with me when they come here. How do I look?"

Asriel tries to hide his giggle in his paws. "You look like Chara!"

Frisk laughs along with him, throwing their head back and rolling their eyes. That wasn't what they were going for!

"Chara always used to steal mom and dad's crowns, so we could play kings in the throne room," Asriel continues, eyes lighting up at the memory. "They'd sit on dad's throne and I'd sit on mom's, and we'd pretend to be all grown up!"

Papyrus wanders into the room after them, stopping a little ways away, content to let the little ones play in peace. He still isn't sure it's entirely legal to be this tiny and adorable, but he supposes the little royals can do what they want.

Frisk scoots over a bit and pats the seat next to them. Asriel squeezes in beside them. The throne is just wide enough for them to sit side by side, even with Asriel's backpack in the way. Maybe if the armrests weren't there it would be more comfortable, but this is okay too.

"I always tried to get them to let other kids play with us so we'd have subjects to rule over who weren't just plants and pebbles, but they really didn't like that. They said we'd get to rule over real people soon enough," he continues, the light in his eyes dimming a bit at the thought. He bites the inside of his cheek, shrugging a bit. "I-I didn't really wanna rule over anyone, to uh ... to be honest. I just kinda wanted to make some friends? Chara was really good with people and we did play with a lot of the kids from the neighborhood, but ... It was like they always made sure everyone left before I could really talk to anyone. I think they were scared I'd forget about them if I made other friends."

Papyrus' smile falls a bit as he listens, but he holds off on interrupting the conversation. It sounds private. The kids might have forgotten that he's there. He crouches by a big patch of violets and starts picking off the flowers, breaking the stems as close to the ground as he can.

Frisk looks away, hoping Asriel won't see the way they wince at his words. That sounds like Chara alright.

"It's a good thing you didn't," they say, forcing the sourness from their expression as they face him again with a still somewhat-tight smile.

"What?"

"You didn't forget about them when you made a new friend." Frisk edges a bit closer, making it clear which friend they're talking about. "So they can chill out. You can make all the friends you want now."

Asriel ducks his head like he's trying to make himself smaller. "Are you sure? We only just came back. I don't wanna make them feel alone."

"This is _my_ throne and _I'm_ the ambassador, whatever I say while I'm sitting on this chair is the law. And I say that you can do whatever you want and Chara needs to be nice about it or I'm telling mom."

Behind them, Papyrus braids the stems of the violets together. When he's done, he slides the little flower crown over his arm and moves on to a patch of golden flowers instead.

Frisk reaches down from the throne to pick a lily growing between the tiles, nearly losing their balance as they do so. Asriel catches them before they fall and helps them back up. Frisk puts the flower behind his ear. "Besides. It's not like they're alone when you're not around. I'm here."

Asriel smiles a bit, readjusting the lily so it's stuck in the fur at the root of his ear. He kinda wants to wear it for the event later. It's pretty.

"I really hope you're right about them," he sighs. "I just got so weirded out when they were being all nice and stuff. They were never like that when it was just them and me."

Frisk does find that strange. They can't imagine a Chara who isn't at least a little clingy, a little overbearing, a little smothering. They were like that when the two of them first met, their warm, gentle presence promising to heal Frisk if only they would let them into their soul. Not with words, they couldn't speak yet back then, but they still somehow made their intentions clear. Maybe they felt bad for Frisk because they'd been in that same situation. Maybe it was all a ploy to catch a host for themself to grow and fester in. Frisk isn't sure even Chara knows what they really wanted back then. It's not like they were really awake yet at that point.

"If you ask me," Frisk says slowly, choosing their words carefully, "I think they might've just gotten used to it when they were trying to get me to do what they wanted me to do. Mettaton said they were a great actor, right? They used to be everyone's hopes and dreams back ... before. But they weren't really like that, were they?"

Asriel shakes his head sadly. "They said they wanted to make other people happy, so they pretended to be nice so they didn't end up hurting anyone. But on bad days, they always said these really mean things about everyone and I ... I don't know if they ever really cared about anyone or if they were just using us. I really don't know."

"So, it makes sense," Frisk concludes. "With the other monsters, they pretended to be nice and sweet, 'cause that's what people wanted them to be. I wanted someone to come save me and take care of me, so they pretended to be that person for me."

"And now you think they've forgotten why they started acting that way in the first place?"

"They know I don't fall for their tricks anymore. I guess that's just how things are now."

Frisk doesn't notice that they're smiling before they see the mild on concern on the other kid's face. They raise their shoulders a bit, the smile turns apologetic. They know this isn't really how friendship works. They know this isn't really how things probably should be, ideally. But Asriel doesn't understand. Chara isn't just Frisk's friend, the two of them are- they're _family_ , they belong together, they're not exactly the same person and they never were, not really, but it's so close. They know what it's like to be Chara. Chara knows what it's like to be them. If there's a way for them to exist together, for them to be close without hurting each other, then Frisk wants that. They weren't sure they did before Chara came back, but now they are. They really are.

Frisk always wanted a big sibling. Someone who could protect them and guide them and make them feel a little less alone. Maybe Chara didn't become that person for the right reasons, but they did become that person. And they still are. Even though it's not clear to them why.

"I guess you probably know them better than I do," Asriel mutters, only a little bitterly. He looks down at the tiles in defeat. "If you say this is normal, I guess I should trust you. I just don't get why they're being creepy with me too now."

"They're really scared of everything happening today, I think. And they can see that you are too. They wanna protect you from all of it."

"They're only a week older than me! I'm not a baby! Besides, they're like, way worse off than me, they get _so_ stressed out around other people. I should be the one looking after them."

Frisk nods, determined. "We'll both look after them. And everyone else will too. Everything's gonna be just fine."

Their whole world goes purple for a moment.

"NOW, THAT'S THE SPIRIT!!"

Frisk giggles and pushes the thing on their head out of their eyes. It's the crown of violets. They look up to see Papyrus standing behind the little throne. He grins at them and sets a crown of golden flowers on Asriel's head. The smaller monster carefully adjusts it. Then he remembers the lily behind his ear and he quickly picks it out of his fur and braids it into the crown, so it's still visible. He sits up a bit straighter without really noticing. Slouching seems inappropriate when you're wearing a crown, even if it's only made of plants.

Papyrus kneels next to the throne, giving both children a sympathetic look. "HAVE NO WORRIES. YOUR MOTHER AND I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO KEEP ALL THREE OF YOU HAPPY AND SAFE TODAY! AND SO WILL THE KING, AND SANS AND UNDYNE AND EVERYONE ELSE! WE ARE ALL RIGHT HERE WITH YOU!!"

Frisk still forgets, sometimes. Forgets that they're not alone in this anymore. Okay, they can't really talk to anyone about the actual _consequences_ of Chara's issues, but they can get help. They can put responsibility down for a little while. They don't have to face this alone.

Before they leave the throne room, Papyrus insists that the three of them make a flower crown for Chara, too. As they remove the thorns of picked roses and weave them together, a stale scent of summer and sunshine and a familiar brand of tea catches in Asriel's nose. Only, to him it also smells a little like loneliness and a persistent headache that never really went away. He puts the roses down and takes off his own crown. It's the golden flowers. He holds it close and breathes in the scent.

He's surprised to find that to a part of him, it also smells a little bit like home.

He can't bring himself to push the thought away. He puts the crown back on his head and for just a little while, he lets that part of himself breathe.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, down in the dungeons, Toriel is still attempting to keep the mood light for Chara.

"I realize these may not exactly be the kinds of dungeons you would have liked to see, but I personally find them quite endearing," she says fondly, looking between the bars of a cell as they pass it. It looks more like a tiny apartment than a dungeon cellar, with a soft bed and a shelf of books and newly-painted walls in baby blue hues. "It is so rare that we have any need for them, though. You know your father. He's much too eager to talk it out with our would-be criminals. I suppose he and Frisk are alike in that respect. It is not a bad approach to choose if it works, but ..."

Chara cringes a bit at the mention of Frisk's name. They stop in their tracks. For a moment, Toriel doesn't notice, and she takes a few more steps before pausing to look back at her child, puzzled.

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Can I ... Can I tell you something?"

The look on their face tells her everything she needs to know.

"... You didn't really want to see the dungeons after all, did you?"

They dare to let the rest of their facade fall. It's like pulling aside a colorful curtain to reveal a rainy day. Toriel has to force herself not to tear up at the sight. That would be silly, everyone gets sad once in a while, it's not like she can ask her kids never to be sad ever again simply because she's still a little unbalanced.

There's a bench between two stone pillars in the middle of the room, draped with a patterned purple cloth. She invites Chara to come sit with her.

"You have nothing to fear, my child," she tells them, patiently folding her hands in her lap. "The people will love you as much as they love Frisk. I have seen with my own eyes how easily you charm them. You will do so again."

"I would be lying, though," Chara cuts her off, face scrunched up as though the words taste gross. They kick their legs back and forth under the bench. Their feet barely reach the ground. "You know I'm not really like that. I'm ... not really a good person."

They've told her so before. That they were bad. Not why, or in which way. Just bad. Wrong, corrupted somehow. Even when they first arrived in the Underground and all they ever said about humans were that they were evil, they compared humanity's cruelty to their own. _'They're even worse than me, if you can believe it,'_ they'd once said to Asriel on a bad day, one of those days where Toriel and Asgore weren't allowed in their room, weren't allowed to look at them or talk to them, or even bring them food. Toriel knows she wasn't supposed to hear them say that, but it still stuck with her.

"Oh, I beg to differ," she says to the kid. "Good people, bad people ... I do not believe anyone can be predefined in such a manner. We redefine ourselves through every little choice we make. And we always have the option of choosing good." Slowly, gently, she lays her hand over theirs where it's resting on the bench. "You have chosen good before, Chara. You have been kind to our people, you have chosen to inspire them. You have befriended and loved Asriel as though he was your brother by blood, and in your death, you looked after Frisk and stayed by their side when even I was too cowardly to do so. There is good in you, sweetheart. This you must trust me on."

An awful noise pierces the air and Toriel cringes, involuntarily jerking her hand away from theirs. She blinks rapidly, trying to identify what she's hearing over the sound of her own heart hammering against her ribs. Then she realizes that the little cramps pulling at Chara's shoulders aren't cramps at all.

"Just listen to yourself!" they chirp through the too-bright laughter. "You don't know anything about me!" In a single smooth movement, they're moving backwards off the bench and standing up, backing away from Toriel with their arms open. "You just pretend I'm some messed-up kid who needs your help, right? Just some lost three-legged puppy you need to care for. And anything that doesn't fit into your little narrative, that you ignore. Just like you did with all the others. Just like you're doing with Asriel now. We play pretend and all the bad stuff just -" They open their fingers in a fan-like motion, like they're unfolding a feathered wing. "- poofs." White light from a narrow window close to the ceiling washes over them and dust particles glitter in the beam, the intricate metal patterns woven into the window's bars casting vine-like shadows across the child's ashen face. "Do you think I want to be your puppet again, Toriel? Your little dolly? Do you think I have the energy to put up with that bullshit again? 'Cause I'm ... really, really not sure I have it in me." Their wicked smile falters a bit, though they struggle to keep it in place. "Okay? Maybe I'm tired of this. Do you understand what I'm saying? Is any of this getting through?" They tap an index finger against their temple.

Toriel is not angry. She refuses to be. So, maybe Chara is a little less okay than she thought they were and maybe- maybe it takes her a little off-guard. Maybe she struggles not to bare her fangs, maybe she struggles not to tell them _exactly_ what they can do with their opinion of how she has treated her other kids - but she refuses to be angry.

Not at Chara. Whatever - or perhaps more fittingly, _whoever_ \- planted all this fear and anger and bitterness in her child ... It's _them_ she's angry at.

She stands to her full height, her own red gaze holding theirs.

"You may be tired of this," she says, voice trembling, "but I did not take you in and treat you like my own flesh and blood only to see you waste away in your own misery while I stand idly by. I did not mourn my children for 100 _years_ just to stand and watch when I can finally, finally do something to give you the future you deserved all along." She takes a step forward, a storm in her dark expression. "It is true that I know nothing about you. I do not know who or _what_ you were before you came into our family, I do not know what possessed you to twist the world of the living while you yourself were long gone, and I do not know what you did to make my poor Frisk ill and pale at the thought of your first meeting, I do not know _what you did to them_ -" She has to pause to swallow her anger, closing her eyes shut for a moment. "- but I do know one thing."

When she looks up again, Chara is watching her with startled eyes, their upper body slightly turned, ready to bolt. There isn't a shadow of the toothy grin left on their features, only anger barely concealing fear. Toriel hangs her head and turns her back to them.

"Above all, you are one of us. Do you think I don't remember how you and Asriel used to play together? How he looked at you the way the rest of us looked at our pretend-stars in Waterfall? Do you think I didn't hear your laughter through the wall hours after bedtime? Crayons on paper as you drew by your nightlights?" A soft laughter escapes her at the memory. It was so long ago. "My room was right next to yours."

Chara is lost for words. "M- mom, I ..."

"Frisk is lying to me in order to protect you. They swallow the pain they are carrying so that you will be safe. I dare not think it is for the better, no, but my children are far brighter than you give them credit for. They have _reason_ to care for you, _you-_ you have given them reason to care for you. Despite everything you have done to frighten them away - and I can imagine it is far more than I can readily grasp - they stand by you. That is not naiveté. It's love."

Not the healthy kind, she realizes that. No one should sacrifice their own health and happiness on the off chance that their loved one changes for the better. But they're kids. All of them. Just kids. Asriel wouldn't love Chara if they had failed to inspire him in some way, Frisk wouldn't believe in them so badly if they didn't think there was good in them. Toriel trusts her kids. They know Chara better than she does, possibly better than she ever will. If they think their adoptive sibling is worth loving, Toriel will trust in their judgment unconditionally. She wants to believe they're right. She wants to believe her own love for the little thing is not in vain. She refuses to give up on them.

"You're wrong," Chara argues, their voice small and frail. It almost sounds like Frisk's. "Th-they're just being stupid. I'm just ... really good at playing pretend, alright? I needed them to care about me, so I made them. Same with everyone else." They turn their back to the light streaming in from the window. Their voice grows thinner. "But I'm tired. I'm sick of trying. I- I wanna be the person you want me to be, because you deserve better than what I really am, but I don't know if I can pretend for everyone else too. You and Azzy and Frisk and dad, I know I owe it to you to play nice, but please ... can't we just go home? I can't pretend in front of so many people. I can't."

The knot in their throat muddies their words, and Toriel can hear that. Finally, she faces them again. They look so small in the bright white light, shining dust settling in their hair, catching on the back of their baggy, too-big jacket, but at their feet, their shadow stretches all the way to the dungeon's own dark corners, standing tall and proud. She can't help but wonder what the little one is going to be like when they grow up. She has no idea. She can hardly grasp what they're truly like now. But she wants to believe that someday, they will be alright. It's all she's ever wanted for them.

"Chara," she says, approaching them with cautious steps. She doesn't want to scare them. Not really. "I understand that this new life must be overwhelming for you. And I understand if you need a little more time before you are ready to speak to strangers again, that we will not force on you. But please, do not attempt to convince me that this is permanent." Had she been talking to Asriel or Frisk, she would have kneeled to their level, but Chara wouldn't want that. Chara wants to be treated like an adult when they're upset. It's heartbreaking, seeing something so little and broken wanting to stand alone, but it's what they want. Toriel offers them her hand to hold instead. "You are not alone. You belong right here. You are not ... bad or evil or dangerous, or whatever else you would have me believe. You are capable of living this life. You have done so before and you will do so again."

"But it's not me!" they repeat, knotting their fingers in the edges of their jacket. "I can't be with other people, I'm bad and they won't like me unless I lie to them!"

Toriel doesn't lower her hand. "Then you must repeat that lie until it becomes the truth. Something tells me that you have done so before. Or perhaps others have lied to you about your true worth until you believed them."

"That's not fair!"

"I'm not leaving you, Chara. If you truly do not feel ready to be around others just yet, I will take you home. But I will make you come back here eventually. I will not let you isolate yourself when so many people are ready to show you just how worthy you are of their respect and love. You can still choose to let people close to you. You can still choose to be good."

They're shaking, though whether from anxiety or muscles tensed hard enough to keep all their anger on the inside, she can't tell. They try to strangle the sob pulling at their frame, but they don't quite succeed. Then they give up trying, ignore her outstretched hand and rush in to hug her tightly instead, hiding their face against her front. She sighs in relief and puts her arms around the little human, brushing a reassuring hand over their head.

"There, there, little one."

Bit by bit, they relax in her arms. When their breathing slows, she picks them up and they put their arms around her neck, leaning their head against hers.

"I won't let any harm come to you ever again," Toriel whispers, brushing her nose over their cheek. "Least of all by your own hand."

They cling to her a little tighter.

"Do you want to go home?"

"Hmm ..." Chara thinks it over for a moment. Then they shake their head. "No. I don't wanna leave Azzy here all alone. I can tell he's really nervous too. I should be there to look after him."

Toriel doesn't remember them ever being protective like that, but she believes it might just be an excuse to stick around, so she decides not to question them. "Then we will stay. But tell me if you need a moment away from other people, or if you change your mind. You do not have to say anything in front of the others, simply tug on my sleeve if you need to speak to me in private."

A tiny little smile finds its way to Chara's face against their will. They can't help but think that Toriel must have a lot of experience with this by now. Scared kids not always dealing well with crowds. It eases just a little bit of their fear, not because it actually solves their problem, but because the fact that their mother has been taking care of Frisk the way the kid needs her to is a very comforting thought. Frisk has been through a lot. It's good to know they've been in safe hands during the months where Chara couldn't be there to look after them.

"Do you want to see the rest of the dungeons before we go?"

"Y-yes." Chara nods, settling more comfortably in her arms. "I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aiming to upload the last part sometime early next week. Though as always, new chapters come quicker with more comments, because. Y'know. It does wonders for motivation! Thank you so much for all the nice comments on that last chapter, by the way, ya'll are stars and I really, really appreciate every single one. <3


	3. In Which the Rose Perceives That It Is an Engine of War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here comes the last bit for this round! Warnings for previous chapters still apply, as does my eternal love for my awesome betas.
> 
> and please forgive the pretentious Les Misérables reference in the chapter title, how could I not, it's like, three entire levels of pun-iness above my usual level, it's a pun built on a pun built on a reference which is also a pun, I could not pass that up

Chara lets Frisk crown them without a fuss. Even though no thorns are left on the stalks, the flower crown still fits a little too tightly around their scalp, and the redness of the roses makes their skin look sickly by comparison. Chara puts a lot of effort into replacing their first response - wondering aloud if their siblings are gonna crucify them next or what - with a soft 'thank you.'

They suppose the three of them do look pretty cute with matching flower crowns. And every little bit helps, right?

When the group returns to the main street, it's somehow even more crowded than when they first passed through. Children, some fluffy, some scaley, some shaped like tea kettles or doorstops or mittens, weave through the crowds of adults, little whirlwinds of striped shirts and laughter. Overhead, Snowdrakes and Tsunderplanes ride the wind across the rooftops. Bird monsters, only distinguishable from normal birds by their scarves and monocles and fancy hats, are perched on the colorful carnival-like garlands strung between buildings. Somewhere to the left, hidden by a row of buildings, music is playing. It sounds like a live band. The melodies are a little strange and they suit the carnival garlands very well.

Frisk takes the lead, Asriel and Chara on either side of them, Toriel and Papyrus lagging behind a bit so they can keep an eye on all three children. It's easy to get lost among the identical gray-and-silver buildings on a normal day. On a day like this, it almost seems impossible not to.

Locating an opening between the many rows of houses that isn't too overcrowded, Frisk leads the others toward the source of the music. The path branching off from the main street is narrow and cast in shadow, and the buildings lean into it as though they're about to fall over, packed too tightly together with their brethren for there to be room for them to lean in the opposite direction. A weasel-monster scurries past them, tailed by littler ones, presumably his babies. The ground shakes and something huge passes overhead. Chara cranes their neck to look at the thing. It's a massive stick insect - maybe it should really be called a tree insect - crawling between the walls, its six opera-glove-clad arms holding onto rooftops and windowsills as it makes its way forward without touching the ground, presumably to avoid making any more mini-earthquakes. It tilts its head down as it passes over the children, looking at them with curiosity in its big dark eyes. Frisk smiles up at it. It smiles back, and one of its many dainty hands reach down to pinch the kid's cheek. Frisk laughs and bats it away. The tree insect continues on its merry way.

Chara leans toward Frisk, looking after the monster with suspicion. "You _know_ that thing?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, that's Charlie!" Frisk says cheerily. "It lets people ride across town on its back sometimes when we don't wanna walk. Charlie's really cool."

More monsters pass them as they follow the narrow path snaking through the cityscape. Chara is a little relieved when they turn a corner and a square patch of light ahead announces the end of the path. As they get closer, the light fades into bright muddled shapes that fade into an open, circular, market place-like town square bustling with excited monsters. Chara falls behind a bit, trying to make it not-too-obvious that they may or may not be hiding behind Frisk. Asriel looks at them out of the corner of his eye. He presses his lips tightly together, straightens his back and forces himself to march proudly forwards. If anything, Chara doesn't have to worry about _him._

Right as he's about to step out of the narrow street's heavy shadows, something hits him in the stomach, almost knocking the air out of him. " _Ooph._ "

"Careful!" Frisk tells him. They tentatively peel their arm away from his ribs. "Sorry."

Asriel looks around, trying to figure out what Frisk stopped him from walking into. He can't see anything. Then, seemingly travelling through thin air, comes a flock of tiny purple lightning bolts travelling downward in a fan-like formation that briefly cuts them off from the exit before fading into the ground. Another wave comes right after, red this time, followed by a wave of yellow. Asriel follows the waves of light with his eyes, trailing them up, up, up to a big round jellyfish hovering in midair between the buildings.

"Excuse me, miss Jellybloom!" Frisk calls up to her. "May we pass through here, please?"

The jellyfish spins around in a slow circle, revealing a small, smiley face on the surface of her flower-patterned bell. She tilts her bell a bit, not sure what the kid is talking about.

Frisk points at the bolts of light streaming into the ground. "These are really pretty, but we can't pass through. They sting."

The jellyfish's eyes widen as she realizes what Frisk means. Jellybloom opens her bell and the lightning bolts travel back up into the mess of short, curly golden arms hanging under her. For a second, the light hits something that looks like thin strings of silk, and Asriel realizes that the bolts were travelling down the creature's invisible tentacles. The strings disappear, slurped up like loose spaghetti, and the monster gives Frisk a polite nod, before spinning around herself and ever-so-slowly swimming through the air towards unknown adventures.

Chara ducks their head, gaze planted firmly on the ground as Frisk leads the four of them into the town square. There are so many monsters here. Monsters they've never seen before, monsters they wouldn't have been able to come up with in their weirdest fever dreams. They know none of them would hurt them on purpose, they _know_ that, all these strange creatures came to greet them, to welcome them, but it's all so much, they don't have the energy to fool this many people at once, they barely have the energy to be _around_ this many people, they're not used to it anymore, they're not used to lying anymore, they're not used to-

A hand closes around their own, a bit dry and scaley from the season's relentless wind and frost, but warm against their own thin, freezing skin. They dare to glance up from the ground and see that on Frisk's other side, they're holding Asriel's hand too.

Chara takes a deep breath, doing their best to banish the anxiety grinding doubt and frustration and anger into their head. They lift their head, lower their shoulders. Their eyes glide over the crowd, expression distant, but not cold. One of the little weasel kids they saw earlier peeks at Chara through the forest of legs of the other much bigger monsters. For the kid, and just for the kid, Chara manages a very small, secretive smile. The little weasel gasps and hides behind one of the bigger monsters' legs. Chara's smile grows wider in amusement. They squeeze Frisk's hand and then they roll their shoulders, letting go of the tension in their back. Only way left to go is forward.

As if right on cue, the sun decides that this is the perfect moment to break through the clouds and let its rays soak into the city. It's embarrassing, it's like nature's own spotlight, Chara isn't sure this could possibly get any more messed up if the three of them just spontaneously grew wings and halos right then and there. Three children in red, gold and violet flower crowns, holding hands, stepping into an awe-struck town square, two of them fresh out of ... well, not heaven, monsters aren't religious like that, but fresh out of somewhere that's supposedly better than here.

It makes Chara's skin crawl. This is so wrong. Everyone is looking at the three of them like they're the purest thing they've ever seen. Chara never liked the term 'intrusive thoughts' - those thoughts are their real nature shining through, they know that, it's not intrusive at all, it's natural - but right now, they would give anything not to feel phantom dust under their fingernails or see bright red _9999999_ s reflected in the monsters' eyes that they _know_ aren't really there. It would make this whole thing a lot more bearable. Just. Being able to believe in their own lies for a bit. It would be nice. Very nice. Splendid, really.

The town square is surrounded by purple banners embroidered with gold and silver patterns, in the middle of half of them a red heart symbol, in the other half a white spade. Other than the band playing on the elevated platform ahead - which is definitely, definitely not one of Mettaton's old stages that he donated to the king after Newer Home's population grew too big for poor Fluffybuns to be able to address all his subjects at once without a platform and a mic - the town square is completely devoid of anything but the crowds of monsters currently parting like the red sea in front of the kids crossing the open space. Presumably, whatever festivities Asgore has planned will take place at the castle after The Big Announcement That Everyone Already Knows About But Still Wanna See Happen Live From The King Himself.

Frisk leads their siblings behind the stage, Papyrus and Toriel right behind them. Chara breathes a sigh of relief as the sea of curious eyes disappears behind a curtain. They let go of Frisk's hand and take off their flower crown. Not for any specific purpose, they just ... feel like holding it for a little while. The flowers are soft.

"Howdy, kids," sounds a familiar voice from somewhere above them. Chara looks up to find their father hovering close by. He looks tired, Asgore, but in a good way. The just-got-home-from-work kind of tired. Behind him, Mettaton, Sans, Alphys and Undyne appear to have paused in the middle of a conversation. They all look the same amount of relaxed, so the event must be going as planned.

"Hey, dad," Asriel greets him and reaches up to hug him. He holds onto Asgore a little longer than necessary and the king seems to understand. He picks up his son, sitting him in the crook of his arm. It makes Asriel feel a little better. He sends Chara a reassuring smile. Chara looks away, but they're smiling too.

"These are lovely," Asgore says, carefully righting the golden flower crown on his son's head. "These are flowers from the throne room, are they not?" Of course he'd be able to recognize flowers from his own gardens.

"We showed Asriel and Chara around the castle!" Frisk chimes in. "Papyrus made them for us!"

Undyne snorts and shoots a grin in Papyrus' direction. "'Course he did."

Papyrus declares that naturally, the princes should all have crowns for an event like this one. He was only doing his duty as royal guardsman! Very well and with incredible grace, but still!

Asgore asks the children if they're ready for the event to start. Frisk waits for the other two to respond, they're used to all this formal stuff by now. Asriel nods, asserting that he's more than ready, even though his eyes are a little too shifty and he clings a little too tightly to his father for the words to carry the kind of bravery he wants them to. Chara replies with a very quiet "Of course," and puts their rose crown back on like they're putting on camouflage. They fold their hands in front of themself and all traces of unease and worry and - well, personality, really - it all fades. They give Asgore a serene smile. His brows tilt up in sympathy. He knows very well what they're doing. He wishes they didn't feel the need to.

Asgore is the first to address the crowd. The others stay behind, waiting for him to formally introduce the kids. Toriel quickly straightens the folds in Chara's jacket. Sans gives Asriel a fist-bump and tells him he's gonna ace it, he's got nothing to worry about.

Asgore talks to the people about loss and change. About the unpredictability of the future, the present, even the past, when looked at in a different light. How you might one day learn that all you thought to be true had a side to it cast in shadow, or how everything you had ever wished for might instead have been there all along, just out of sight. How even he doesn't always see the bigger picture and how - and his voice wavers when he says this - even he might not always have been able to see what good this life was to anyone.

He understands now, he assures them. And he asks those of them who still do not to take this as their sign. Take this as his promise to them. Let this rekindle their hopes and dreams.

With tears in his eyes, he says: "I would like to introduce ... to _re_ introduce ... the princes of monsterkind."

Had anyone been listening in, they would not have guessed that the town square was filled to the brim with curious monsters. Not a breath, not the shifting of clothes, not the lashing of tails sound through the city as the former queen leads her children up the stairs and onto the stage, Asriel right behind her, Chara behind him, Frisk tailing along at the end mostly for moral support.

Asriel nervously eyes the many monsters watching him with bated breath. Then he looks at Chara. They're staring at a spot several feet above the crowd, completely unmoving, their little peaceful smile raised like a shield. Asriel swallows his nervousness and takes a deep breath. Then he lifts a shaking hand at the crowd.

"Uhm. Hi."

A second passes.

Then another one.

Then, tears. Cheering. Hands outstretched the way they would reach toward the sun on a warm day, not intending to catch or hold, just to soak up a little bit of light before winter comes back. The entire capital erupts at once, and though the noise avalanches over the stage, it's so bright and so warm, and despite the fact that most of these monsters weren't even born 100 years ago, this is no doubt as much of a reunion as it is a first meeting.

The sheer warmth and joy greeting him makes Asriel smile and he holds his hands to his heart, trying to cup his soul through his chest. The little thing is shining so brightly and it's still so strange to feel it light up after all the time he spent hollow. He can't believe how happy he is to see everyone. He can't believe he gets to have this again!

Chara's already reddened face flushes an even darker shade than usual and they bow their head so their hair hides their eyes. Hey, that was a good idea, wasn't it? They bow politely to the crowd, making them cheer even more. Just look at 'em go. Chara barely feels the way their head is spinning or the way their heart seems determined to knock their ribs out. They can freak out later when they're not standing on a stage in front of a small football field's worth of monsters.

Someone throws a lily at the children's feet. Chara picks it up and weaves it into Frisk's crown so it mirrors Asriel's. Frisk gasps and looks at their sibling like they've just been granted a medal. A little bit of genuine warmth finds its way into Chara's smile, but they're still looking at a blank spot over the monsters' heads, not at the people themselves.

When the noise dies down, Asgore confirms that yes, this is indeed the children they lost a century ago, they're back and this time, they are here to stay.

"For what purpose?" sounds a raspy voice from somewhere in the crowd, echoing Mettaton's question from a few days before. The monsters part, revealing Gerson watching his king with a stern wariness. The old tortoise scratches his beard in thought. "You don't go wakin' the dead for no reason, that's just plain disrespectful, is what it is. So what's the catch here?"

Asgore tilts his head in respect to the elder, expression serious. "There is indeed a catch. But it is a mild one. I do not know if any of you have sensed it - if you have, it saddens me that you have not informed me - but during our stay in the Underground, you may have felt certain ... disturbances relating to the passing of time. Perhaps some of you have been under the impression that you, for a single day, were capable of predicting events before they took place. Some of you may have woken up with a certain weariness that I deeply hope you have since been able to shake. Some of you may have experienced visions or dreams that seemed out of place ..."

As he tells the crowd about time disturbances and lingering presences and accidents that weren't quite as accidental as he makes them out to be, Frisk senses a familiar heavy, rot-like feeling emanating from the soul of the kid standing next to them. When they look at Chara, their red eyes have moved from the empty wall on the building across the town square to their own shoes. Their facade has slipped a bit, not enough to show the lingering fury and bitterness that once used to go along with the rot, but enough to let the smile fade and their gaze soften to something a little melancholy, a little mournful.

"B-but everything is fine now?" Monster Kid asks when Asgore has finished his almost-explanation. The little armless biped is sitting on the head of one of their dads, a massive brown wyvern with curved horns. "Everything's back to normal?"

Before Asgore can answer, Chara lifts their head and finally, they're looking at one of the monsters greeting them. Holding the kid wyvern's gaze, they nod. "Yes."

Monster Kid tilts their head, looking at Chara like they're trying to remember something.

"It's over now. Everything is going to be okay."

Asriel and Frisk exchange a glance past Chara. Toriel looks at the little human with pride.

Monster Kid nods too, then, and they seem at least a little reassured. "Okay. That's good."

A little bit of the heavy feeling in Chara's soul fades. It's not exactly gone, but they _are_ getting better.

They're getting better.

After another few follow-up questions from the crowd, Asgore wraps up the introduction, so the children can leave the stage and go say hi to the monsters a little less formally. Asriel does most of the talking, still a bit nervous, but entirely without actual fear, as he eagerly chats with everyone about how he feels and how he's been and what's going to happen now. He dodges questions regarding his undeath like a pro. Chara stays close to him, but they remain quiet. He doesn't need them, he's doing well on his own. "What about you, Chara?" and "We missed you, Chara!" and "We've heard so much about you, Chara!" are all answered with polite "I'm doing well"'s and heartfelt-sounding "It's very nice to meet you"'s. One of the monsters makes a joke that Chara doesn't hear, but they laugh along anyway, and it's only mostly to save face.

Soon, they excuse themself and wander over to Toriel and Frisk waiting close by. Asriel hurries after them, shouting "H-hey, wait for me!" Chara tugs on Toriel's sleeve and she leads them away. Asriel follows and Frisk does too, after telling the crowd to go with Asgore to the castle.

"You did so well," Toriel tells them when the four of them are safely hidden away backstage. She looks back and forth between Chara and Asriel. "Both of you."

"They were so happy to see us," Asriel near-whispers, a little breathless.

"Of course they were!" Frisk says, ruffling the little tuft of mane-like fur on his head.

Toriel brushes a paw over Chara's shoulder, leaning down a bit so she can look at them properly. "Do you need a break, my little one? We can go somewhere a little more quiet for a while, if you need it."

Chara's gaze flicks to Asriel for just a fraction of a second. Their eyes are a little too wide, a little too reflective. "N-no, it's fine. I just. Need a minute. You know?" They try to laugh, but it's a little forced, a little stiff. They cough, trying to compose themself, but it's like trying to reassemble a broken vase without glue.

Asriel can't believe he thought they were up to something bad. They look so worn out. So worn out from so little. He knows he shouldn't feel guilty, he knows Chara hasn't really given him much reason to trust them, or at least not to _not_ suspect them of having dark intentions, but it's so obvious to him now that Frisk was right. They really did mean well.

He feels a pang of regret at the frustration building inside. He presses his teeth tightly together, stopping whatever outburst probably would've made its way out if he was still soulless and cold enough to let it happen. He just doesn't understand why Chara has to be so difficult. When they're nice, they're secretly about to be scary, except apparently they're _not,_ they're just being _weird,_ and what was he _supposed_ to think? Was he supposed to think they were just being nice for the sake of being nice? They never are! That's not their thing! Chara's mean when they're being honest. That's just how they are.

But that's not how he ever wanted things to be, was it?

He's being ungrateful. Again. He needs to stop that. For so long, all he wanted was to see his best friend again. Now they're here. He's so spoiled. He should just be happy they're here and okay. He needs to quit being so selfish, this is the best thing that's happened to him in a literal century.

Frisk puts a hand on Chara's back, gently brushing their thumb over their sibling's spine. "We could just tell everyone that we had something important to do. No one needs to know."

Chara's smile grows thin and wry, like their own pain is something to laugh at.

They don't look like something that's been around much, much longer than their tiny body should indicate. Asriel knows he doesn't either. But then, he supposes, it's a good thing that some part of him still feels a little like it.

"Actually," he cuts in, stepping forward and addressing Toriel. "I think I could go for a little break."

Chara forgets to smile for a moment. They look confused.

Toriel does too. "Oh?"

"Yeah, I feel a little light-headed. There's a lot of people to talk to, it's- it's just a little sudden. You guys are coming with me, right?"

Chara needs to know that Asriel doesn't need a babysitter. They always liked to think that he did. That he needed someone to guide him. But it's always been the other way around, he thinks. He's always been the one protecting them, watching over them, limiting them. Making sure they didn't hurt anyone. He took that burden on himself. He died under the weight of it. Now that they're back, it's about time he did his job again.

Frisk catches on immediately. "Sure!" they say. "We'll come with you! Right, Chara?"

Chara stares at Asriel for another moment. Their eyes narrow. He sends them a tiny little smile. Do they know? He isn't sure. They might. They might not. A part of him hopes they do. The rest, not so much. That selfish little voice in his head that wishes his friend would be grateful to him for once isn't very nice, or easily pleased. Something tells him it would just find something else to nag about if things went its way. He doesn't think it'll ever be truly satisfied.

"Sure," Chara echoes after another moment. "Sure thing."

Toriel tells them it's settled then. She doesn't seem ready to question what just went down. Maybe she can tell. If she can, she hides it well. It wouldn't be unlike her. She tells the kids to stay put for just a moment, she'll just go tell the others they'll be away for a little while, she'll be right back!

When she's gone, Chara heaves a deep sigh and buries their face in their hands. Then they run their fingers through their hair, sniffling a bit in the cold. For just a moment, they allow themself to relax.

What a relief.

Then they hear a giddy snicker behind them.

"NYEHEHEH! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU, HUMAN! I ALWAYS KNEW YOU COULD DO A LITTLE BETTER."

They turn around just in time to see Papyrus giving them a thumbs-up and a brilliant smile. Then he goes to join Mettaton waiting for him and the others by the curtain separating the backstage area from the rest of the town square. Mettaton catches Chara's gaze and gives them a nearly-invisible approving nod. The kid made a flawless performance.

Chara stares after them long after they've disappeared behind the curtain.

Since when did Papyrus know about ..?

Toriel returns and the line of thought evaporates.

 

***

 

They return to the castle at sundown. Though the monsters are still curious, they seem to have gotten used to the idea of having the princes back, and when the kids stick close to their parents and their friends, strangers take the hint and leave them alone, watching from a distance instead. It's still a little unsettling, but they're just curious. It's okay.

At one point, Asriel tugs on Alphys' sleeve. She abruptly sits up. Judging by the trickle of drool on her face, she must've been half-asleep over the table. Must've been a long day. Or maybe it's the cold. Is Alphys cold-blooded?

"Wh-what? Hey, kid," she mutters with a tired smile, removing her glasses to rub her eyes. "E-everything alright? With- with you, I mean? Ehe." She replaces the glasses and wipes the drool off with the sleeve of her cardigan.

"I need to ask you something," Asriel says. He edges his fingers under the straps of his backpack. They keep digging into his collar bones.

Sensing that this isn't exactly a 'how's the weather' kind of question, Alphys turns so she's sitting sideways on her chair, giving him her full attention.

"So uh," he begins, not really sure how to phrase this. "This machine thing." He looks over his shoulder at the backpack. "You ... said it _could_ run for a whole day, right?"

"Y-yes!" she replies immediately. She quickly looks him over, suddenly worried. "I-it _is_ running, right? You feel okay? Does anything feel-"

He holds his palms up, shaking his head. "No, no, I'm okay! Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about ..."

His attention briefly falls to his mom sitting a few chairs over. She's laughing at something Sans said. Frisk is as well. They're sitting next to him, holding their head in their hands. It was probably a really bad pun if they're reacting like that. Chara is standing next to Toriel's chair, hiding under her arm, hiding the fact that they're laughing too.

Alphys follows his gaze. Her expression falls. "Oh ..." She knows what he's asking.

Asriel lays a hand on her arm, expression serious. "I could come over and recharge it every day. I'd only need to wear it while I'm sleeping, 'cause if anything happened during the day, I could just go get it in my room. When I go back to school, I could have mom bring it for me ..."

Alphys takes his hand, brows knit, opening her mouth several times before settling on a response. "Are- are you _sure,_ Asriel? W-we could still- we could s-still find a permanent s-solution if we just- if we just keep at it a little longer, I think we could-" The words die away before they even form.

"I could still come over for tests and stuff," he says. "I just ... don't wanna wait anymore. I know it's a little risky and maybe it's not the smartest thing to do right now, but ... I don't wanna keep waiting for this to get better. I wanna start again. I want to get back to my life now. It's been a really long time." He laughs a bit despite himself. Alphys does too, though it doesn't chase away the worrylines in her forehead.

"I ... I guess that's a good way to look at it."

"Please don't get me wrong. I'm really happy about everything you've done for me. But I can't stay locked up in Sans and Papyrus' house forever. Chara can't either. " His voice falls to a whisper. Chara's looking at him now. They don't appear to be trying to listen in on what he's saying. They're just watching. He watches them in turn. "I think they need to be around other people more. I think maybe it could help them get better."

Alphys nods a bit, expression tight. She squeezes his hand. "If you- if you really think it'll help. I know we can't- we can't really keep you forever. But I'm going to keep searching for a way to make you stable! Someday, you won't be stuck to that machine anymore!"

"Alphys, it's okay," he interrupts. To her surprise, he circles his arms around one of hers and gives her a little sideways hug. "You've already done so much. I'm gonna be fine. Even if it takes a month or a year or ten years, it's gonna be better than being dead. 'n that's good enough for me, at least."

She closes her eyes with a sigh. How can this be enough for him? How could something so little ever repay what she did to him? Maybe it can't. Maybe she'll never be able to repay him. But that's not really what matters most anyway.

"I'll talk to Sans about it," she promises, putting her free arm around the kid.

"Thank you."

Later that night, someone in Newer Home decides that fireworks are in order. Colorful lights bloom under the dark, starless sky over the city. Someone else joins in. Then another one, and another one. Chara watches the lights from a window in the castle, eyes droopy. It's been a long day.

At some point, they're not sure when, Frisk and Asriel join them, standing on either side of them.

"I didn't know monsters knew how to make fireworks," Frisk ponders out loud.

Chara snorts. "They don't. Look at that one." They point at an arrow of red losing momentum halfway on its quest to the sky. It spins around a few times, weakly trying to claw its way up, before dropping in a graceless arch into the nearest building. The roof bursts into flames. Someone screams. A group of Chilldrakes emerge from the city's north end, charging up their ice magic as they go. They look like blue claw-marks scratching up the black sky as they speed towards the fire.

Frisk cringes. Chara laughs. Asriel looks crestfallen. Is it possible to be embarrassed on behalf of your entire kingdom? He's pretty sure it is. He is now.

As the fire dies down, Chara's laugh fades into a yawn. They stretch their arms over their head. When they lower them again, they catch both of their siblings around the shoulders, nearly pushing them over as they lean their weight on both of them. Asriel groans and tries to push Chara away.

"Quit it, you're heavy!" he whines.

Chara clamps their arm more firmly around his neck. "No, 'm not, you're just soft!"

All three of them push back and forth for another moment, giggling like the actual middle-schoolers they are. Then Chara gets themself together and stands up properly, still with their arms slung over their friends' shoulders. Frisk leans into them, closing their eyes for a moment. Asriel worms his fingers under the straps of his backpack again, giving his collarbones a break.

Chara's gaze drops from the fireworks outside the window. They smile a bit to themself. "Today wasn't so bad," they say quietly.

Asriel hums in agreement. "We did pretty good, I guess." He thinks it over for a moment. Then he adds: "You ... you did pretty good."

Saying it out loud probably isn't very smart. He's sad to admit that maybe he really doesn't know his friend as well as he used to. A lot has happened since the last time the two of them were the king's sons, monsterkind's hopes and dreams. Since they were anything but 'lost' and 'more lost.'

But Chara only looks at him with a tired half-grin and says: "Oh yeah?"

Asriel smiles a bit sheepishly. "Yeah."

"Huh. Whaddaya know."

Another firework crashes outside. This time, someone yells a very loud curse. The Chilldrakes are on it before the fire even reaches the top floor.

"You guys are gonna fit in just fine," Frisk mumbles without opening their eyes, already half-asleep on Chara's shoulder.

Chara's smile fades a little, but their expression remains soft and comfortably drowsy. "Maybe," they say, tasting the word for a moment. "Maybe we will."

Asriel experimentally leans his head on their sibling's other shoulder. When they don't protest, he closes his eyes too. This is okay. Everything is okay.

It's not long before Chara has to shake both of them awake, complaining that they're both fat and need to quit crushing them with their fat potato-child bodies, they can't carry both of them at the same time! All three of them go searching for Toriel. If anyone can carry three whole potato children at once, it's her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a nice, mostly angst-less lil party this time around. But alas, I was stuck on a bus for 12 hours yesterday with only my laptop and barely any internet, so as you can probs imagine, the next installment in the series should be around very, very soon.
> 
> We're only just getting started.


End file.
